Weir, Phil: - Phil Weir was born in downtown Toronto in 1951. Thanks to his family, groups like the Boy Scouts, and summer camps, he escaped the city on treasured trips into the wild, and developed an enduring love of nature and canoeing. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1972, where he met and married Jill McNamee. In 1973 Phil and Jill moved to Ottawa and both eventually became teachers. They had three wonderful children, and the family did scores of wonderful camping trips together. As a high school teacher Phil always found ways to include Outdoor Education. This was done via field trips, clubs, leading and promoting an Outdoor Ed. credit course, curriculum development, and also full-time teaching for five years at the MacSkimming Outdoor Education Centre. Now retired from paid teaching, Phil still enjoys encouraging people to know, to understand, and to love the natural world, and their place in it. In 2013 he created Wildwaters Publishing. www.wildwaterspublishing.com